Mutombo Hopes To Face Zo Again

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The invitation was extended as soon as the trip to the NBA Finals was assured, just as it was two years ago when Dikembe Mutombo advanced with the 76ers.

The Nets center said it was important to let former Georgetown teammate Alonzo Mourning know his presence at one of the games would be meaningful.

"I love Alonzo Mourning. I love the things he's been able to bring to the game of basketball," Mutombo said as the Nets looked ahead to Wednesday's Game 4 against the Spurs at Continental Airlines Arena. "But we're all still concerned about him."

Mutombo said he would welcome the opportunity to compete again against the Heat free-agent center. But he also said concerns remain about his friend's ongoing kidney illness. Mourning sat out this past season because of a setback, but plans to test the free-agent market this summer now that the disease again is in remission.

"I'm very excited that he will get an opportunity to play again," Mutombo said. "We don't know which team he is going to be playing on, so I don't know how often we'll play. He loves the game so much and he's tired of being home."

Asked about possibly trading elbows with his buddy, Mutombo smiled, but then turned cautious.

"We don't know how it's going to work out. It's still a long way away from the season," he said. "We'll see how his body is going to hold up until October, by the time that we have training camp.

"He has to think more about his health and his family and the future of his children, and how he wants to be there for them."

PAT ANSWER

Nets coach Byron Scott said he spoke with Heat coach Pat Riley before the Finals, as has become tradition the past two years with his former Showtime Lakers coach.

"I talked to Riles before the series started, but I haven't spoke to him since then," Scott said shortly before the start of Game 4. "I always talk to Riles before every series.

"I talked to him three or four days before this series. We didn't really talk specifically about game plans. We talked about San Antonio."

HIS BEST SHOT

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he is beyond the issue of his team's woes at the foul line. He wishes others would take a similar approach.

"There's nothing I can do about it," he said. "They will go in or they won't. We'll continue to get 50,000 letters from gurus."

Popovich recalls being on the other side of the issue, as a Golden State assistant under Don Nelson.

"And that's the deal. Teams that shoot free throws well have good free-throw shooters. There's probably some guy hanging around trying to take the credit that he taught them this. It's all baloney. If Steve Kerr was shooting all of our free throws, we would be a hell of a free-throw team. When you start getting beyond that, it gets a little silly."

REALITY BITE

Nets forward Richard Jefferson acknowledged New Jersey's status probably wouldn't be boosted much even if the Nets follow up the Devils' Stanley Cup title.

"I'm extremely happy for them and their organization," he said. "But I have the feeling that even if both of us win, the tourism in Jersey will not go up."

While the Nets have filled Continental Airlines Arena for the Finals, they ranked 23rd among the 29 teams in attendance during the regular season, at 15,185 tickets sold per game.

"It still seems like a lot of people in Jersey have not caught on," Scott said.